Richard Mennear

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has again hit out at the decision to put the game with Swansea City back 24-hours.

The fixture at the Liberty Stadium was due to take place on the evening of Tuesday, January 12 but it has been put back until the Wednesday because the Swans have an FA Cup match 115 miles away on the Sunday at Oxford United, a noon kick-off.

The decision has left Allardyce angry given his side have to travel down to Arsenal the Saturday before for their FA Cup third round tie and Tottenham Hotspur away the following Saturday lunchtime.

Writing in his programme notes for today's game with Aston Villa, Allardyce said: "The scheduling of our next Barclays Premier League fixture at Swansea City however, is something I am not at all happy about.

"In a week where we travel just under 2,000 miles, with away games in London on the weekends before and after the journey to south Wales, the late move of our match to the Wednesday is, in my opinion, ludicrous.

"The Premier League has a responsibility to its members and I feel that moving our fixture at Swansea back 24 hours - when we have an early 12.45pm kick off time at Tottenham the following Saturday - makes our chance of preserving our Barclays Premier League place more precarious."

Allardyce said the limited recovery time will make it difficult for his Sunderland side.